In manufacturing of various articles it is often necessary to locate fixture plates on a base plate of the tool used to perform an operation. In general, a large variety of tools, such as drill presses, lathes, routers, milling machines, etc. may be used in manufacturing articles. Each time the material being formed into the articles is switched from one tool to the next, it must be aligned with the tool to ensure proper operation. Also, because large numbers of articles may be manufactured, each time new material is placed in the machine it must be aligned, which requires a large amount of machining time.
To at least partially overcome these problems, fixture plates have been developed which hold the material being worked on and are pinned to a base plate of the tool or machine. The fixture plates have a plurality of holed extending therethrough which mate with holes in the base plate and screws or pins extend into the holes to fix the position of the fixture plate relative to the base plate. One problem with this procedure is that the screws or pins are not sufficiently accurate. Also, each time an operator wants to attach a fixture plate to a base plate the pins and/or screws must be retrieved from where ever they were placed when they were removed from the previous operation. This procedure is generally time consuming and frustrating.
To overcome the accuracy problem, locator dowels have been developed in the prior art that incorporate a number of balls around the periphery. A central screw forces the balls radially outwardly to lock the locator dowel in place. A problem with this structure is that it is extremely complicated and relatively expensive to fabricate. No structures have been suggested to overcome the problem of using loose screws and/or pins.
It would be highly advantageous, therefore, to remedy the foregoing and other deficiencies inherent in the prior art.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved locator dowel assembly for positioning a component, such as a fixture plate, on the base plate of a tool or the like.
Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved locator dowel assembly with captured components so that searching for components is eliminated.
Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved locator dowel assembly that is relatively inexpensive and easy to fabricate.